I work with a bunch of 18-20something’s at a clothing store in the mall. My job is to open all the boxes of stock that come in, check the items against the packing slip, apply security tags and hang/stack it all for the sales staff to put out. Essentially, my job is to make more work for everyone else. Most of the kids I work with are pretty cool. And they’re eager to please, so as fast as it can- depending on how busy the store is, the new and fill stock disappears from my table pretty quickly. Sometimes I have to carry it out to them and throw it at them and run away, but more often than not, they’re excited to see what I’m unpacking, and lets just say it- I’m LOTS of fun to be around, so they stick pretty close 🙂

Aaaanyways… From my vantage point at the back stock table, I can watch most of the store. I can see who’s busy and who’s not, and I can see who’s being a lazy twat and should come back and get some stuff to put away before I die in a terrible shoe-valanche of ugly Toms and overpriced jeans.

I looked over one day to see one of the girls standing nearby twiddling her lanyard and staring into space and said “Hey *Lazytwat(not her real name)- can you do me a favor and take these Toms away?” I was addressed with an eye-roll, a sigh and really snarky “well, I’d really rather wait until you’re done all of them first”….

My kneejerk reaction was nearly a knee to the Jerk. Instead- the MOM in me spit back “this IS all of them- take.them.away.” And I’m pretty sure she actually cowered a bit. I was pissed. When you talk to me like a rude child, I will treat you like one. And like most rude children I have to talk to, I expect immediate compliance.

I walked away and returned to find the Toms and Lazytwat had moved, and carried on with my mountain of stock. I really didn’t think anything of it until one of the other girls said something the next day. “Lazytwat said you were mean to her!! What happened?”

(I forget what 18 to 20something girls get like when you group them together- and putting them in a commission sales environment does nothing to improve their behavior- they are catty fucking brats)

So I told whatsherface what happened and even conceded that Maybe I Wasn’t Very Nice about it and let it go. But as I observed from my perch at the back of the store in the next few days, I decided my initial assessment was correct, and Lazytwat was exactly what I thought- a Lazy Twat. She avoided her assigned tasks like she was allergic to them. Otherwise, I completely ignored her. One day, one of the girls came rushing back and apologizing for not getting more stuff out of the way (it was really busy) grabbed another armload of stuff and I said “How about you get Lazytwat to do some of that, she hasn’t touched a stitch all day” and she Lol’d and said “ha, yes I’ll do that!”

18 to 20somethings…. facepalm

It took Lazytwat 2 whole days to muster up the stones to say anything to me, at which point I had spoken probably 4 words to her over a week- I have no time for rude people, less for stupid people, and she had eaten up all my patience for the situation. She hovered at the back waiting for just the right moment, the tension was building along with the piles of new stock that she wasn’t doing anything to move. I talked to the other girls, I talked to the customers, I talked to myself, I pretended Lazytwat was completely invisible. I waited. I was almost excited to hear what she had come up with!

Finally, I hear her mumble something at me and I turned from what I was doing and made eye contact “What?” and she repeated herself “So, um, from now on, if you have a problem with me you should um deal with me about it”. So I stood there and looked at her and smiled real big and said “Ok! Sure! Lazytwat- DO.YOUR.JOB” and dumped a heap of clothes in her arms and walked away.

Apparently that was also mean. People who weren’t even there that day have asked me “Ohmygod what happened that Lazytwat pissed you off so much?! you were so mean to her!”. To which I have taken to the official statement “Dood, I was doing my job- apparently she had a different Idea what hers was, end of subject”.

Here’s the thing. I am charming, charismatic, funny, engaging, and a total terror. I tease, I bully, I heckle, and people seem to love it. People fight over the apparent treat of getting harassed by me. I don’t really get it, but you gotta give the people what they want right? On the other hand, that super-mojo has an off switch- Also don’t get it, but if you wear on my nerves badly enough or you really are desperately stupid enough to fuck with me- my general recourse is to just ignore you. completely. you no longer exist as far as I’m concerned and I won’t waste the energy. And ask people who have had the experience, apparently they’d rather a punch in the face. Then they could go back to all the fun and antics with the other cool kids. And the “cool kids” usually make it look like so much fun to get picked on that the Lazytwats of the world just can’t take it.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m really the best kind of bully- I am champion of the Underdog. I take on real bullies and grind them to dust. Nothing makes me angrier than seeing someone getting picked on and hurt. I will march right over there and fix it NOW. I have been the victim of bullying. I have suffered badly while other kids stood by and watched- afraid or ashamed or secretly relieved that they weren’t the target of the moment.

So when I’m confronted with the notion that I was mean and hurtful, I struggle with what to do about it. I responded harshly to someone who was being rude to me. Was that mean? When I decided that clearly we had nothing mutually interesting to work with, I chose not to shower someone with attention. Was that mean? When she confronted me was she expecting an apology? I wasn’t sorry, still not sorry. Don’t believe in pretending to be sorry. Don’t care if she’s sorry. Is that mean?

I think what’s getting to me is that I’ve been vilified. I called someone out on bad behavior and then refused to kiss ass to make her feel better about sucking at her job, and due to the overall climate of cattiness and immaturity, it’s the thing to talk about at the moment. Big picture, nobody really cares- the stock keeps coming and the other girls still think I’m the most fun thing to ever happen EVER- and Lazytwat has moved on to work in one of the new stores (no, I didn’t chase her off- she was recruited). Life goes on. The people who matter don’t mind. But it still leaves me with a bad taste. I remember what it was like to suffer at the whims of the “Mean Girls” and I’m wondering if maybe these Anti-fans of mine really understand the difference.